ROBERT AUGUSTUS MELCHER (1910-1983)

PAPERS, 1931-1976, n.d.

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BIOGRAPHY

Robert Augustus Melcher was born in Ottumwa, Iowa on March 5, 1910 to John Rudolph Melcher and Catherine Adelaide Melcher. He attended Oberlin College, where he graduated from the Conservatory of Music in 1932 with a B.M.E. degree. He received the M.M.E. degree from Oberlin in 1940, and also received training at Teacher's College, Columbia University (Summer, 1940), Pius X School of Liturgical Music (Summer, 1942), Julliard School of Music (Summer, 1949), and the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia (1962).

Melcher began his teaching career in 1932 at the School of Fine Arts in Ottumwa, where he instructed students in piano and violin. In 1933 he moved to Ohio Northern University where he taught school music and violin. He remained at Ohio Northern until 1936, when he returned to Oberlin as a graduate assistant. In 1937 he became a Professor of Music Theory at the Conservatory, and remained at Oberlin for thirty-nine years, retiring from the faculty in 1976.

He co-authored four books: Music for Study (with Howard Murphy, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1960), and Music for Advanced Study, Music for Keyboard Harmony, and Music for Score Reading (all with Willard Warch, who was also a member of the Conservatory of Music faculty, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1965, unknown, and 1971, respectively). Melcher was a member and past president of the Oberlin chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda, and was also a member and past president of the Ohio Theory and Composition Teachers Association. He was involved in committee work at the College, serving as chairman of the educational policy committee of the Conservatory. His main areas of professional interest were music theory and the music of the Roman Catholic Church. Melcher also directed church choirs in Cleveland from 1941 until 1964.

On July 13, 1935, Robert Melcher married Anna Scmidt (Oberlin Conservatory, '32) of Moorestown, N.J. They had three daughters: Katherine, Charlotte, and Marian. After a long illness, Robert A. Melcher died on May 11, 1983 in Oberlin, Ohio.

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